Even though I'm frequently tempted to cheat on my wife with various chocolatey treats, I have to admit that I just made that claim up.
But how many of you jumped and clicked, hoping it were true? How many other offerings with grand promises do you jump on because you hope that they will fill the emptiness within you, give you a momentary lift of pleasure, or fulfill your dreams?
My mother chronically purchased lottery tickets. Always she would say, "if only we won that x million -- that would solve all our money problems!" I believe she faithfully purchased 1 or 2 tickets a week for at least 20 years. The most she ever won was $10.00.
When I'm sad, I seek out coffee or an espresso beverage. When I'm really sad, I go for the triple chocolate suicide cake. I really hope that it will make me happy. I know for sure where it will go if I don't exercise off the calories (my stomach :/)
What silly thing do you do to try to "make yourself happy"?
I'm sure you know that the thinking behind these actions are irrational, and if you're anything like me, you're just hoping for some relief from feeling down, or you're just hoping for .. well.. hope.
But wouldn't it be better to spend your time, money and effort on something that really has meaning to you? Rather than focus your hope on something like winning the lottery (1 in 13,983,816 chance of getting all 6 numbers in Lotto 649), isn't it better to devote your energy to something you can actually win at, whether that is serving your community (guaranteed), making a million dollars (in 2006 there were an estimated 8.7 million out of 6.5 billion = 1 in 747 millionaires), or writing a new story (guaranteed).
It makes more sense the second way, doesn't it? Did you notice as well that you have absolute control over whether or not you can achieve the last three goals? So why do we continue to place our hopes in things that we have no control over?
Why do you?
And a better question: what can you do about it?
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